


Where Did The Rocks Come From?

by KingEggie



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, hugo uses a plethora of nicknames for varian, just a lighthearted fic, no ships in this one, nuru is rightfully headstrong, pretty much the crew watches a play where varian commits multiple crimes and gets away with it, remember the ember island players in avatar? yeah baby we are doing that episode right here, sorry if my writing is annoying haha, yong is a protective bean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24641203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingEggie/pseuds/KingEggie
Summary: "RETELLING OF PRINCESS RAPUNZEL’S JOURNEY: WHERE DID THE ROCKS COME FROM?"'Join us in The Renori Theater TONIGHT to experience the journey of a lifetime! Featuring the origin of the rocks, Corona’s most dangerous villains, and how Princess Rapunzel saved the world!'A story in which Varian fails to mention his past to his current group, and sadly they learn it through a low budget play.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 103





	Where Did The Rocks Come From?

It’s been days of traveling, and saying that the group was tired was an understatement. 

“WHY is there miles upon miles of just trees!?”

Hugo has been non-stop complaining while I’ve been telling him to shut it, Yong has been sluggish and keeps making random noises with his mouth to pass the time, and Nuru is focused on a book she picked up from the town before this awful forest.

“Thank you captain obvious for once again pointing out trees once again. You’re truly a mastermind.”

Hugo was trailing behind Nuru and I and was keeping an eye on Yong, but he abandons Yong next to Prometheus and the continues to walk up to Nuru.

“Why are we trusting miss ‘stars are directions’? I bet we’re lost.”

Nuru calmly closes her book a bit and gives Hugo a sweet sneer while lifting her lantern. 

“You don’t even know where your glasses are half the time. Besides, I know where we are. We are just a few miles away from our next destination. Once we get into town, you can thank me for the guidance.”

Nuru proceeds to stick her face into the book again, falling behind Hugo to walk with Yong.

“Ugh, can you believe this hairstripe? Don’t you also think this is just a tad odd?”

I’ve seen Nuru’s map, she has taught me how to map stars and we are for sure going the right way. I’m no expert, but I know a lot more than Hugo. It is fun to entertain him sometimes though.

“No one is stopping you from double checking the route. I think Nuru is correct, but you’re welcome to see for yourself.”

The satchel on the side of me stops swinging as I start digging for the map. Once I have it in my hands, Hugo snatches it and the lantern I was holding. He takes a few seconds to scan it, and I see his bunched up face scowl more as he shoves the map back into my chest. 

“Whatever.”

I snicker to myself as I repack the map, but I feel Yong rush past between Hugo and I and run off ahead.

“LOOK A POSTER!”

Yong is a few meters away and tears down said poster from the tree. As fast as he went, he came back to us with the same energy as he runs me over to the ground. 

“Can we go can we go can we-”

Nuru pulls Yong off of me and Hugo grabs the poster that was left on my face.

“Aren’t you from Corona wiz kid?”

It would be nice to actually SEE the poster. I pull myself off the ground and snatch the poster away so Nuru and I could read what was on it.

_**RETELLING OF PRINCESS RAPUNZEL’S JOURNEY: WHERE DID THE ROCKS COME FROM?** _

_**Join us in The Renori Theater TONIGHT to experience the journey of a lifetime! Featuring the origin of the rocks, Corona’s most dangerous villains, and how Princess Rapunzel saved the world!** _

Oh no.

“This sounds fun! We deserve a break. Yong, Hugo, Varian; shall we go?”

Yong is screaming and Hugo shrugs his shoulders and nods his head… How the heck am I going to convince them to not want to go to this!?

“Oh uh… We should really continue to the next trial as soon as possible. I have a feeling this next one will be challenging and it’s better to get it done ASAP!”

Hugo squints and smirks at me. Of course he can see I’m lying through my teeth.

“Oh come on goggles, we deserve a break. Besides, we would love to learn more about you and where you’re from. Isn’t that right guys?”

Yong excitedly jumps up and down nodding his head while Nuru smiles sheepishly. 

“Hugo does have a point, we don’t know much about you Varian. We know that you’re from Corona and that you work as an engineer, but we don’t know anything else. It would be nice to see some Corona history and maybe after the show you can tell us more about what we saw!”

I’m not getting out of this, am I?

“… Okay. Let’s go see that show.”

Great. In the next few hours they’ll learn of my criminal history and affiliations to the royal family. What can possibly go wrong?… Yeah I know exactly how things will go wrong. 

–

Only a half hour later we arrive into town, just in time to buy tickets and quickly get to our seats. The closer we got to the theater the more my anxiety about this came apparent. I should have just told them from the get-go, why did I hide all of this for so long!? 

“Hey guys I-”

The lanterns go out leaving the ones on stage lit. Nuru shushes me.

“Ahhh it’s starting!”

The curtains pull back revealing the actress playing Rapunzel. She has short brown hair and is standing with two other actors who are playing as the King and Queen. 

“Wow! The world is so much bigger than the tower I was stuck in for 18 years! I want to go out and explore the world!”

The King steps in front of Rapunzel.

“But daughter, you must stay here and be protected. We lost you once, we will NOT lose you again.”

Accurate, but very much exaggerated acting. The play proceeds to show Rapunzel failing at being a princess, Cassandra sneaking Rapunzel out of the castle to see the rocks, and her hair coming back. Hugo on the left of me leans in to whisper to me.

“Why would her hair out of all things grow?”

“I wondered the same thing, I personally couldn’t figure that part out.”

“Personally?”

Oh no.

Thankfully Nuru shushes us and we continue to pay attention. They continue to the part where Rapunzel saves the castle during her coronation and reveals to Corona that her hair is back. It then cuts to Cassandra and Rapunzel in Old Corona… Well I guess this is my part.

“I heard a wizard lives here and could possibly get your hair back to normal. Be careful princess, we have to be cautious.”

The actors continue into a poor excuse of a lab looking set. 

“We wish to speak to the wizard that lives here!”

The lanterns on stage turn green when something was thrown into them. The actors scream and some of the audience scream with them. Well, there I am.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

The actor who is playing me is in a chef like uniform and has a character mask over their head. That is for sure not safe in a lab setting. 

“We seek your knowledge of magic-”

“I DO NOT DO MAGIC.”

Oh god the face reveal. The actor pulls of his mask. The actor who is playing me has a green feather in his hair that I think is supposed to resemble my hair stripe? 

“I do science! Specifically chemistry.”

Okay now I’m angry. In a hushed voice I vent to Hugo.

“It’s alchemy! Sure I do chemistry but alchemy is my specific work!”

Nuru and Hugo stare at me on my left, and I can feel the presence of Yong’s stare on the right of me. The play of course doesn’t stop and actor Varian throws the mask off stage.

“I’m Varian, how can I help you?”

“We need help! The princess has her infamous golden hair back and we need to know why.”

Nuru reaches over Hugo to grab me by my collar.

“You knew the princess!?”

Yeah, I should have told them before this play.

“… Yes. I just, never mentioned it I guess.”

“You guess!? I-”

The people behind us start shushing Nuru to sit down, so she does so begrudgingly. Hugo of course takes the opportunity to bully me.

“I bet you failed at finding out what was wrong with her hair and you’re ashamed of it, that’s why you hid this juicy tid bit from us; didn’t you?”

Oh poor Hugo. This is only the start of it. Might as well have fun with it.

“Good try, but no. It’s more extreme than you think.”

Hugo didn’t like that answer, but I do like the face he made as he turned back to continue to watch the play. 

–

The story continues and I’m not really brought up again until the snow storm. The set is back to the poor excuse of a lab and my actor is pouring different colored liquids into other glasses randomly.

“I’ll fix the rocks issue and save Corona so my dad will finally be proud of me!”

Ouch, hit the nail on that one. I know what scene is about to happen, and only I know how horrible it was to witness. Instead of the amber encasing my dad’s actor they have a big cloth around the actor.

“NO DAD I CAN HELP I SWEAR I’LL SAVE YOU! THE PRINCESS WILL HELP I SWEAR.”

I look over to see Yong’s reaction first. He’s on the edge of his seat and paying close attention to the scene as my actor is screaming into the audience. Turning over I see Nuru with tears rolling down her face, and Hugo has a stunned expression… Actually now that I’m thinking about it they probably think they are seeing my dad’s death right in front of them. The scene quickly turns from my actor screaming in the lab to them screaming at Rapunzel.

“You PROMISED princess. I need your help!”

“I’m sorry Varian, but with the storm my people need me. I can’t help you right now.”

Looking back, it was unfair of me to demand Rapunzel to help me during that snow storm. I was so blinded by fear and anger that I couldn’t just take no for an answer. The actor storms off and the story continues onto how Rapunzel saved Corona. I don’t hear a peep from the group while the show continues onto Rapunzel’s birthday, finding the scroll, or the destruction of the tower. They show how I tricked Rapunzel and stole the original sundrop flower, and how well… I turned Ruddiger into a beast and stole the Queen. Re-watching this whole thing play out in low budget acting really makes you reflect on your life. I feel a tug on my right sleeve while the actors on stage are planning to invade Old Corona for the queen.

“You’re not bad, are you?”

Oh geez, I just realized that Yong, the person who looks up to me the most, is seeing the worst side of me.

“I promise you that I’m not bad anymore.”

That was enough of an answer for Yong, and he returns his attention back to… my actor shoving Rapunzel’s actor’s hair into a drill prop. Why is this part accurate but not the actual important parts!?

The scene comes to a close when my actor is defeated, and the random rocks appear into a direction off the stage. Lanterns are lit again and someone who wasn’t apart of the play appears on stage.

“This is the first intermission! The show will resume in fifteen minutes!”

One second I’m in my seat, the next I’m flying off my seat and I’m getting dragged outside by both Nuru and Hugo. Yong is yelling at them to put me down, but that doesn’t stop Nuru from ranting on our way to the entrance.

“I can’t BELIEVE this entire time we’ve been traveling with a criminal! You better have a good explanation or else I’m reporting you to the authorities!”

We make it outside and both Nuru and Hugo throw me to the ground. I was going to speak, but Yong stands in front of me with his arms spread out.

“Varian is good and our friend! He wouldn’t have saved us all those times if he wasn’t a good person! Even if he is a criminal, he’s still our friend and is good now!”

Nuru still looks mad, almost as if she didn’t hear Yong. Hugo on the other hand… it’s hard to tell what he’s thinking.

“Varian. Speak. NOW.”

After this, I will never ever be on Nuru’s bad side again. I take a moment to stand up and gain some composure, and Yong still has his arms stretched wide but his head is turned to me to listen. Before I could say my side of the story, Hugo opens his big mouth.

“I have a hard time believing that short stack of all people would do any of that. Maybe they have the story wrong and they’re making it more dramatic so it’s interesting. Really Nuru, just look at those freckles and tell me those are-”

Nuru slams her hand over Hugo’s mouth and continues to glare at me. Oh how I do enjoy the sweet sound of anything but Hugo’s voice.

“Everything you saw in the show was true. I did all of those crimes.”

Yong is still defending me, Hugo’s eyebrows rise in shock, and Nuru somehow got angrier.

“Oh and you didn’t think about telling us this information? You already know I’m a princess, is this just some elaborate plan to keep me away from my kingdom so you can take it over!?”

“No absolutely not! It’s true that I’ve done all those things but I’ve changed and redeemed myself. You remember how I said I’m an engineer? I’m actually the royal engineer, employed by the same royal family.”

Now all three of them look confused. Yong is fully towards me, arms still outstretched. 

“How do you become a royal engineer after tricking a princess into treason, attacking a whole kingdom, and kidnapping a Queen?”

“Uh… Good question Yong. I guess you’ll see the answer in the play.”

Nuru and Hugo exchange looks, and Nuru drops her hand from Hugo’s mouth so he can speak.

“You still have a lot of explaining to do but-”

“You’re on thin ice.”

Nuru points to her eyes and then to me, and promptly re-enters the theater. Yong drops his arms and grabs my hand.

“Let’s get some snacks before we go back to our seats!”

I don’t get much of a choice since Yong drags me back into the theater, leaving Hugo outside still looking conflicted.

–

I’ve seen Rapunzel’s journal that has details on her journey to the dark kingdom, but it’s nice to see some context. I see that they’ve left out some details like how the crew didn’t visit the island or that weird magic house, but I guess how would they know about that? Either way, the second part comes to an end where Cassandra betrays the group and escapes the dark kingdom with the moonstone. The same person who announced the first intermission gives everyone another 15 minute break saying it will be the last intermission. Yong for sure drank too much juice, cause once the person stopped speaking Yong ran out of the theater… Leaving me with Hugo and Nuru.

“Hey itsy bitsy alchemist, do you want something from the concessions?”

Is… Hugo trying to be nice to me?

“Uh, sure. Anything is fine.”

He nods, getting up… oh and leaving me with Nuru who looks like she is still pissed at me. Smooth Hugo, smooth. I make a move to stand up but Nuru gives me a look and I sit back down. This is awkward to say the least.

“You know Varian, I really did trust you. I’m more hurt that you lied to me.”

“Oh. I mean, I didn’t exactly lie- just… didn’t reveal everything about me.”

Nuru really knows her facial expressions, cause the current one feels like crushing disappointment.

“Just so you know Nuru, my intention was never to hurt you or Hugo and Yong. I was super focused on completing these trials, and it was exciting to meet people who didn’t know anything about me or my past. I wasn’t intentionally hiding it, but I was ashamed nonetheless. This final part is also a lot to take in, but it’s where I turn myself around and become the Varian you know now.”

Nuru smiles for the first time since the play started.

“I trust you Varian, but if you ever hide important information from me again you know my wrath.”

She lightly punches me and I laugh. Yeah, I already promised myself that I will only be in Nuru’s good graces from now on. 

Yong and Hugo return at the same time, Yong eating candy hastily while Hugo gives me a caramel apple as he takes his seat.

“Thanks Hugo.”

–

The play jumps right into Rapunzel and company returning to Corona where my invasion is taking place. This is it, my redemption scene. The Saporian’s currently are defying my actor’s orders in the Corona jail.

“You said no one would get hurt!”

“You don’t want to be on the wrong side of history kid.”

“… You’re right. Get into that jail cell.”

Actor Varian pulls out… a glass of liquid? Seriously?

“Oh, so you’re betraying us now?”

The liquid is thrown, surprisingly making some light bubbles on the Saporian actors. This leads to my actor getting thrown into jail, leading to Rapunzel and I’s actors apologizing.

“I know how much it hurts for someone you trust let you down. I mean, after you go through something like that… how can you trust again?”

I never realized this until now, but when Rapunzel and I made up in that cell she was referring to Cassandra’s betrayal. Then when Nuru and I had that talk… history really does repeats itself. 

The scene where Rapunzel and I’s actors try to stop the Saporian’s was kind of hilarious to watch considering the low budget props vs the high stakes situation. Eventually Corona was saved and the scene moves onto other hijinks between Cassandra and Rapunzel. I’m mentioned two times after that, which is when Cassandra kidnapped me in her tower and when Cassandra was revealed in the middle of town where my invention shot her. They failed to mention the attempt at a portal, but hey that didn’t work so I can see why they didn’t.

The play ends with Rapunzel and Cassandra working together to stop Zhan Tiri, Rapunzel using the last bit of magic to heal Cassandra, and of course a quick happily ever after song. When the curtains closed everyone clapped, but by no means there was a standing ovation. Lanterns are lit once again letting the theater patrons exit.

All four of us exit, and Nuru is already jumping me with questions.

“That was such an inspiring story! I couldn’t believe Rapunzel’s best friend betrayed her so last moment! Do you know what Cassandra is doing now Varian? Oh gosh did the King and Queen ever get their memories back? How-”

“Okay star girl you need to slow your roll. Maybe let’s ask more important questions like is Corona’s security that bad? You would think with how many times the royal family was almost harmed they would-”

“WAIT!”

Yong’s screaming effectively gets Nuru and Hugo to stop talking.

“Varian, did the princess help save your dad in the end?”

Oh right, they never showed that part in the play.

“Yeah, she did. They didn’t mention it in the play but Rapunzel learned an incantation that let my dad be free from the amber. He’s alive, in fact he’s the one who gave me the journal with details of the trials… that my mom wrote.”

Stunned silence fills the air.

“Goggles, is this whole adventure you trying to find out what happened to your mom?”

“Wha- I mean, that would be an upside to the adventure but no. I went on this adventure because I wanted to gain a better understanding of myself. I ended up pushing my alchemy abilities, finding relatives in Nesdernia, and found life long friends along the way. We are halfway done with the journey and I’ve already learned so much. So I guess… are you guys okay with me and my past?”

Yong and Nuru are already hugging me, and Hugo is still standing and smirking at me getting smothered. I extend a hand towards him as if it was a hand shake, which he stupidly accepts leading him right into my trap. I pull him hard making him participate in the group hug.

With these guys by my side, nothing could go wrong with these final trials… right?

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this was a fun read and not annoying or anything! I plan on writing Varigo in future fics, but I was inspired by the discord to write an Ember Island like 'episode' where romance wasn't the focal point. Follow me on tumblr @ kingeggie !


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